Step 9: Preparing for hardware

Step 10: Finishing

There was some more sanding needed on some spots on the top which were raised and needed to be injected with extra glue. After that I sealed the boar...

I have wanted to make a longboard deck for some time, however I was having trouble finding cheap veneers. I started thinking about using popsicle sticks to construct my own veneers instead. Popsicle sticks are made from baltic birch, which is used to make wooden aircraft so I thought It might work for a longboard as well. Here's what I did.

Step 1: Shaping the template

I figured out the shape I wanted and scaled it so i could use 5 sheets of 8 1/2 x 11" paper as a template. I just taped the sheets together cut it out and stood beside it to make sure it felt right.

Step 2: Building the mold

I built a mold out of foam core or "Ready Board" which I bought at the dollar store. I cut out multiples with the curve I wanted with a scroll saw, these became the ribs of my mold. I scored the foam core with a razor blade so that the sheet could curve with the ribs. I marked out rib points with pencil and then I hot glued the ribs to the scored sheet.

To keep the popsicle sticks from sticking to the mold I covered the gluing surface with some glossy "marbled" vinyl I got at the dollar store. I traced the template shape onto the vinyl and added a center line.

The curved tail section of the mold was built up of more pieces of foam core.

The illustraion shows a "cutaway" look of the mold. (Not the steps of construction.)

Okay.. So I know alot of people just use regular sheets of Baltic both and the bend the wood I a pres and glue em together.. Well would it work to make say 2-3 sheets of these flat veneers and then glue em together normally ? Like due 2layers for each"veneer". One with the grain and one against? If that would work it would be easier to sculpt out then boiling the sticks.. But would it break easier? Idk.. Please get back to me!!!

Sorry I'm on iPad and autocorrect gets me sometimes.. I mean could you make flat sheets of Popsicle stick "veneers" and the glue those together in a mold? And for the veneers do one layer horizontal and one layer vertical... If that's more clear please respond.. I want to make flat to skip the whole bending the Popsicle step.. Thanks in advanced..

I make custom longboards, and this project seams very out of the box. For at least I wouldve just gone and bought some sheets of BB ply but the bottom design was tight with the popsicles. it was almost like hard wood floor. Ill be making an instructable on how to press with sheets of baltic birch. Very nice. Itll be interesting to see how your board does over time.

you rock! thisdeck is absolutely incredible. when i saw the title that it was made form popsicle sticks i thought it was either a joke or it sucked. boy was i wrong! i may try it if i come across a lot of time but you have pure talent man. it looks great.

The board is 1cm thick. I weigh 190lbs and it supports me with some flex. If you want a stiffer popsicle stick longboard do seven layers instead of five. A seven layer board would be around 1.4 cm thick.